And he did nothing to quell talk of him jumping ship after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at home to Everton when he spoke of deep-seated problems inside the club.

It wasn't just Sunderland fans bracing themselves for a third managerial reshuffle in just over 12 months - even his own family thought Poyet may have resigned on Monday night.

"The first person who told me about the rumours was my son," said the Uruguyan. "To be honest, he even asked me "did you leave?"

"I didn't know what he meant. Had I left a restaurant? Had I left home?

"And then at the club this morning, everybody was talking about it.

"It looks to me that people are expecting me to walk out and I don't know why they have that impression of me."

TOUGH TO WATCH: Poyet's side look doomed to relegation after a terrible run of form [GETTY]

Poyet may be down but he's far from out. Five successive defeats have left him despondent but equally determined.

He added: "If I thought it was time to resign or if I wanted to resign, then I would. But the situation has never reached that point.

"I find myself in a new situation, one that I don't like but I'm trying to find a solution.

"And I'm not going to quit. Simple. That I can promise you.

"Like I've already said, there is something wrong here and I'm going to find out what it is.

"I want to put it right because I don't want to be sitting here losing games. I hate it."

ROOT OF THE PROBLEM: Poyet has vowed to stay at the Stadium of Light as he looks to cure a deep-seated problem at the club [GETTY]

Poyet knows that with Sunderland requiring at least three wins to have any chance of overhauling three of their relegation rivals, the odds are stacked against him achieving the goal he set himself on arriving on Wearside last October.

But he's desperate to succeed in the long-term and will hold lengthy talks with owner-chairman Ellis Short next month to plot the way ahead.

“It looks to me that people are expecting me to walk out and I don't know why they have that impression of me”

Gus Poyet

He said: "I am not a better or worse manager than anyone else, but I am different.

"It would be very easy just to shut up, get on with the job and then wait for the sack.

"The idea is to put things right and I would rather push to make things better than accept them as they are.

"If I can get certain things in place and certain standards, then I know I am going to do my job better.

"I need to find the solution because that will be good for me, good for the team and good for the club."